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Cold Cuts: Over 1400 School Jobs May Be Lost In OC
Photo by iboy_daniel via Flickr
"Orange County's school districts plan to slash at least $129 million in spending and 1,429 jobs next year if the state can't avoid $2.3 billion in new cuts," reports the OC Register. Districts will again be implementing furlough days and salary freezes in addition to cutting programs and an increasing class sizes.
March 15 is the state deadline for notifying teachers and other certificated employees of possible layoffs. State law requires employees including, clerks, custodians, bus drivers, instructional aides and other classified jobs to be notified by May 15.
Although most districts credit last year's federal jobs bill for helping to avoid massive layoffs, a combined $800 million has already been cut from local school districts in the past three years, according to the Orange County Department of Education. "Districts have increased class sizes, cut days from the school year, closed campuses, eliminated hundreds of jobs and slashed programs, including summer school, music and arts," reports the OC Register.
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